Exodus: Gods and Kings Parent Guide

Just be prepared for more of a G.I. Joe Moses than a God-fearing one.

The Biblical story of Moses comes to the big screen (again), this time with Christian Bale playing the prophet that enabled the exodus of the Israelite slaves from Egypt's powerful ruler (Joel Edgerton).

Parent Movie Reviewby Kerry Bennett

Hollywood has taken another Biblical prophet and turned him into an action hero—the militant Moses. Even NRA-supporting Charlton Heston (who played Moses in the 1956 movie The Ten Commandments) isn’t as radical as this Moses (portrayed by Christian Bale) who initially attempts to free the slaves by arming a group of terrorist-like zealots and making furtive attacks on the Egyptians.

In Director Ridley Scott’s version, when God speaks to Moses it’s in the form of Malak (Isaac Andrews), a young boy who looks like he’s been in a scuffle. After Moses and his insurgents burn a flotilla of Egyptian supply boats, Malak appears to the prophet and rails on him for taking so long to get the slaves out of town. Moses irreverently reminds Deity that the Hebrews have been enslaved for 400 years. Malak responds by saying, in essence, “Watch this.” That’s when the plagues begin raining down on Egypt—frogs, flies, lice, boils, locust, disease and death—affecting both the captors and their slaves.

So it’s no surprise the Hebrews are a little leery about following Moses. He didn’t keep them safe from the plagues. He grew up in the luxury of Seti’s (John Turturro) palace. He has a familial relationship with Ramses (Joel Edgerton), the next in line to lead. And he isn’t all that comfortable with his role as God’s spokesman. He’s also more inclined to do his talking with a sword, something that leaves dead bodies lying around more than once. Or maybe this troubled Moses is just a reflection of Christian Bale’s feelings about his title character. In an interview in Los Angeles, Bale is quoted as saying “I think the man was likely schizophrenic and was one of the most barbaric individuals that I have ever read about in my life.”

Whatever the reason, this Old Testament story will likely be another disappointment for those familiar with the Bible. Like this year’s Noah (starring Russell Crowe) who employed rock monsters to build the ark, Moses gets some extra help to part the Red Sea. But we don’t get any sense it is a benevolent being behind the receding waters. Instead Exodus: Gods and Kings offers a spiritually neutered script that has nearly every ounce of faith wrung out of it. It doesn’t measure up to the Biblical account and unfortunately it also fails as a compelling action adventure.

Yet while there’s plenty of battle scenes, hangings and some gruesome depictions of feasting alligators, facial sores and chariots plunging down the side of a mountain, the film doesn’t have any other content concerns for most teens and adults. Even Moses and Zipporah’s (María Valverde) wedding night is left to the imagination.

About author

Kerry Bennett is interested in media from both a journalist and parent perspective. Along with authoring articles for several family-oriented publications, she has written for Parent Previews for over 15 years. As a parent herself, she believes parents play a powerful role in teaching media literacy in their homes.

Exodus: Gods and KingsRating & Content Info

Why is Exodus: Gods and Kings rated PG-13?Exodus: Gods and Kings is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for violence including battle sequences and intense images.

Violence: A battle scene depicts violence on a broad, epic scale and also includes close-ups of characters being stabbed, impaled and cut with swords. A government leader hangs random families—we see two of these with a mother, father and children being executed. Other scenes depict soldiers using bows and arrows, and other implements, to randomly terrorize, torture and kill various starving people who are working as slaves; in one scene we see characters whipped with large gashes on their backs. Corpses are shown, including dead babies and children. Characters are pulled from boats and consumed by crocodiles in a river, with the blood turning the water red throughout the area. Other scenes depict the plagues with maggots feeding on decomposing frogs and other matter, flies and locusts feeding on vegetation, and humans covered in rashes and sores. In several scenes animals are depicted being slaughtered and butchered. With the exception of the crocodiles, little blood or explicit detail is seen within the aforementioned violence.

Sexual Content: A married couple kisses on their wedding night, and he undoes a bow at the top of her garment.

Language: None noted.

Alcohol / Drug Use: Characters are seen drinking, but nothing identifies the beverages as being alcoholic.

Why does Seti think Moses would make a better leader than his own son Ramses? Are those qualities still evident as Moses grows older?

Each of the plagues appears to be caused by the previous one. Does that ability to “explain” the plagues make it more difficult for Ramses to believe they caused by a God to humble his people?

Ramses admits to believing in omens and prophecies. How do his beliefs differ from that of the Hebrew slaves? What measures do the Egyptians use to foretell the future? What things do people put their faith in today?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Exodus: Gods and Kings movie is March 17, 2015. Here are some details…